Brockton Attorney Sentenced to 87 Months for Obstruction of Justice and Money Laundering

BOSTON, MA—A Brockton attorney was sentenced today in federal court after pleading guilty to Obstruction of Justice and Money Laundering.

Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks; Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue’s Criminal Investigations - Boston Field Division; Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division; Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Boston Field Division; Colonel Mark Delaney, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Sheriff James M. Cummings of Barnstable County, announced today that LAWRENCE NOVAK, age 57, of Brockton, Massachusetts was sentenced by Judge Richard G. Stearns to 87 months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. Judge Stearns also ordered NOVAK to pay a $20,000 fine and $107,000 in forfeiture. NOVAK pled guilty on the first day of trial, February 9, 2009, to an Indictment charging him with one count of Endeavoring to Obstruct Justice and two counts of Money Laundering.

Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks said, “Citizens place extraordinary trust in our judicial system, a system that requires attorneys to meet high ethical standards and to obey our laws. The idea that an attorney would hide and launder illegal drug money is unconscionable and completely undermines our criminal justice system. Mr. Novak’s actions are an affront to dedicated and hard working attorneys everywhere.”

NOVAK, an attorney, filed false and misleading documents in Massachusetts State Court in an effort to invalidate a client’s prior state convictions. At the time the client had drug charges pending against him in federal court, and invalidating the client’s prior state convictions would result in the client receiving a shorter sentence if convicted of the drug charges in federal court.

NOVAK attempted to launder $107,000 in cash that he believed his client obtained from selling drugs. NOVAK deposited the money into a client trust account and then caused checks to be written to third-parties in an effort to conceal the source of the money. The United States is forfeiting the $107,000 in illegal proceeds.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Massachusetts State Police and the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office. It is was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian T. Kelly and George W. Vien of Loucks’ Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.